Where did the Irish Hear family come from? What is the Irish Hear family crest and coat of arms? When did the Hear family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the Hear family history?

The old Gaelic name used by the Hear family in Ireland was O hAodha, which means descendant of Aodha or descendant of Hugh.

During the Middle Ages, scribes listened to a person's name and then decided the spelling from there. Names, therefore, often had many spelling variations. The variations of the name Hear include: O'Hea, Hea, Heas, Hees, O'Hear, Hayes, O'Hay, Hay and others.

First found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where this distinguished Irish family descended from the ancient Kings of Munster, and their territories were in the south western part of County Cork. Their ancient family seat was Aghamilly Castle in Pobble O'Hea.

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hear research. Another 161 words(12 lines of text) covering the years 1205, 1172 and 1700 are included under the topic Early Hear History in all our PDF Extended History products.

Irish immigrants began to leave the English-controlled Ireland in sizable numbers during the late 18th century. Many of these Irish immigrated to British North America or the United States in the hopes of gaining their own tract of farmland. This pattern of migration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine caused a great exodus of immigrants to North America. These immigrants differed from their predecessors in that they were desperately fleeing the disease and starvation that plagued their homeland, and many were entirely destitute when they arrived in North America. Although these penniless immigrants were not warmly welcomed when they arrived, they were critical to the rapid development of the United States and what would become known as Canada. Many went to populate the western frontiers and others provided the cheap labor the new manufacturing sector and the building of bridges, roads, railways, and canals required. A thorough examination of immigration and passenger lists has revealed some of the earliest people to arrive in North America with name Hear or one of its variants:

Hear Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Samuel Hear, aged 33, arrived in New York in 1719

Hear Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Felix Hear, aged 40, landed in New York, NY in 1804

Hear Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

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Our PDF Coat of Arms + Extended History product is the whole package all in one. With a full color Coat of Arms along with a very detailed History, full symbolism, bibliography and settlers listed by the centuries.

Fairbairn. Fairbain's book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland, 4th Edition 2 volumes in one. Baltimore: Heraldic Book Company, 1968. Print.

Skordas, Guest. Ed. The Early Settlers of Maryland an Index to Names or Immigrants Complied from Records of Land Patents 1633-1680 in the Hall of Records Annapolis, Maryland. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992. Print.

The Hear Family Crest was acquired from the Houseofnames.com archives. The Hear Family Crest was drawn according to heraldic standards based on published blazons. We generally include the oldest published family crest once associated with each surname.